Article

2012-07-06 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Assads childhood friend, a trusted military chief, defects

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Posted by Steve White 2012-07-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 Didn't Tlas senior write a particularly vile antisemitic book concerning "Jewish Blood Libel"? If so, I hope his stay in Paris is short with a quick trip to the morgue a la Mossad.

Posted by borgboy 2012-07-06 01:18|| 2012-07-06 01:18|| Front Page Top

#2 This would pretty much spell the end of it for Assad, at least with any alliance he had with certain Sunnis.

Posted by crosspatch 2012-07-06 01:36|| 2012-07-06 01:36|| Front Page Top

#3 Dictators don't have any friends. They can't afford them.

Posted by mojo 2012-07-06 13:22|| 2012-07-06 13:22|| Front Page Top

#4 From the BBC:

Gen Tlas has been under a form of house arrest since May 2011 because he opposed the security solution that the regime has been implementing, sources say.

My guess is that anyone Sunni Arab in any kind of senior role is a figurehead supervised by an Alawite (political) commissar. In other words, he gets a slice of the graft but not the power associated with his position.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2012-07-06 17:01|| 2012-07-06 17:01|| Front Page Top

#5 Dictators don't have any friends. They can't afford them.

They don't get much in the way of retirement benefits either. No gold watch for Assad. Well, I used to say Qdaffy should have found himself a nice little dacha on the outskirts of Moscow. But he waited too long to go for it. Maybe someday soon we'll get to see if Pencilneck is any smarter.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-07-06 18:32|| 2012-07-06 18:32|| Front Page Top

#6 Maybe someday soon we'll get to see if Pencilneck is any smarter.

If he can get Russia to ward off a NATO intervention, he will crush the rebels. Gaddafi's mistake was in cosying up to the West; his comeuppance was a matter of time after that. The world has discovered that the West will support a Hitler as long as he comes to power via the ballot box.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2012-07-06 23:40|| 2012-07-06 23:40|| Front Page Top

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